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This new season of the Forces for Nature podcast is a special one! All interviews were done on location at the EarthX Congress of Conferences, an event dedicated to fostering sustainability and environmental action. Initially, though, I was hesitant about attending due to its surprising mix of sponsors and speakers, many of whom you would never expect to see at a conference about protecting the Earth. However, I chose to go with an open mind, ready to challenge greenwashing if I saw it and explore genuine intentions when present.

To my delight, EarthX was a melting pot of ideas and collaborations, uniting individuals from various backgrounds, including energy companies, environmental activists, and political figures, all driven by a shared passion for conservation.

The experience was eye-opening and underscored the importance of including all stakeholders in our environmental discussions to create lasting solutions. This episode marks the beginning of a season filled with enlightening conversations and my personal reflections on navigating this complex but crucial path toward sustainability. Tune in to hear about my most vulnerable and educational journey yet, and let's discuss how we can all contribute to a healthier planet.

We're now on YouTube! If you want to watch this episode, head on over to the Forces for Nature YouTube Channel!

You can now text me directly from your podcasting app! Click on the link at the top of the show notes and let me know what you think about this episode or send me a question you may have that I can share with the guest. Be sure to leave an email address if you'd like a response because the feature doesn't include responding just yet. I can't wait to hear from you!

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Did you ever travel somewhere that left a deep impression on you? Join Crystal DiMiceli as she reflects on her recent adventure to Rwanda, where she fulfilled her dream of seeing gorillas. Turns out, they weren't the only things that left her speechless.

Highlights

• The incredible influence of Dian Fossey.
• Recovering wildlife populations in the country's national parks.
• The country's resilient community spirit after a turbulent past.

If you're looking for a story that combines travel, wildlife, and a touch of inspiration, this one's for you.

If you can't get enough of gorillas, listen to this past episode (episode 25) about gorillas in Uganda with Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka: https://chtbl.com/track/DEB9GF/www.buzzsprout.com/774236/7861105-ep25-protecting-gorillas-through-human-health-with-dr-gladys-kalema-zikusoka.mp3?download=true

You can now text me directly from your podcasting app! Click on the link at the top of the show notes and let me know what you think about this episode or send me a question you may have that I can share with the guest. Be sure to leave an email address if you'd like a response because the feature doesn't include responding just yet. I can't wait to hear from you!

Want a free guide to help you become a force for nature? Get it HERE!

If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe, rate, and review it! This helps to boost its visibility.

Hit me up on Instagram and Facebook and let me know what actions you have been taking. Adopting just one habit can be a game-changer because imagine if a billion people also adopted that!

What difference for the world are you going to make today?

Send Crystal a text letting her know what you thought about the show!

Get to know the host of Forces for Nature, Crystal DiMiceli, better! In this show swap, she joins Stephanie Manka on The Fancy Scientist podcast. Stephanie has a great show that helps wildlife conservationists navigate their careers and she also provides coaching and mentoring for those struggling and feeling stuck as to what to do next.

Highlights

• How did Forces for Nature come to be?
• What was Crystal's conservation career path (and how it brought her to various countries)?
• What's next for Crystal and Forces for Nature?

What YOU Can Do

• Sign up to receive show notes, practical tips, and eco-inspiration from Crystal (don't worry, we won't spam you!)!

Resources

• Go to Fancyscientist.com for informative blog posts, free tools, masterclasses, and mentoring opportunities.
• The Fancy Scientist podcast
• Getting a Job in Wildlife Biology Facebook group

You can now text me directly from your podcasting app! Click on the link at the top of the show notes and let me know what you think about this episode or send me a question you may have that I can share with the guest. Be sure to leave an email address if you'd like a response because the feature doesn't include responding just yet. I can't wait to hear from you!

Want a free guide to help you become a force for nature? Get it HERE!

If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe, rate, and review it! This helps to boost its visibility.

Hit me up on Instagram and Facebook and let me know what actions you have been taking. Adopting just one habit can be a game-changer because imagine if a billion people also adopted that!

What difference for the world are you going to make today?

Send Crystal a text letting her know what you thought about the show!

It often feels like there's only bad news being reported these days. It's easy to feel that way but, if you dig a little deeper, you can find reports of hopeful things that are happening. Laura Sitterly is a climate reporter that you can trust to find the silver lining in her stories. We talk about three recent articles she's written- one about a youth climate summit in Upstate New York, another about the downfalls (yet easy solutions) of our evolution towards a clean energy future, and, lastly, about a novel new way to help bees. Dive into some good news today!

Highlights

• How are schools "filling in the gap" in terms of climate change education when they don't have it integrated into their curriculum?
• How can we evolve into a clean energy future without putting biodiversity at risk?
• How can you help bees with your cell phone?

What YOU Can Do

• Encourage your local BOCES, community college, or school district to host a Youth Climate Summit. You can find a toolkit here.
• Download the iNaturalist app to be able to become a citizen scientist with the snap of a picture.
• If there are wind turbines in your area, petition the town to mandate blade speed reductions during peak migration times.

Resources

Links to Laura's Articles:

• Addressing the gap, the demand for climate education in New York K-12 schools
• Coping with the green-green dilemma: how can we pursue renewable development without wreaking further havoc on the ecological landscape and wildlife habitats?
• No More No Mow May: how smartphones are helping a region in Upstate NY save the bees

Laura is a Climate Reporter who covers midcoastal Maine and, previously, a Breaking News Reporter for the USA Today New York State team. Her lifelong love of the outdoors was sparked by a childhood spent paddling the lakes and rivers of New York State’s Adirondack Mountains. She earned a bachelor’s degree at Auburn University and a graduate degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. She spends most of her free time cross-country skiing or swim

You can now text me directly from your podcasting app! Click on the link at the top of the show notes and let me know what you think about this episode or send me a question you may have that I can share with the guest. Be sure to leave an email address if you'd like a response because the feature doesn't include responding just yet. I can't wait to hear from you!

Want a free guide to help you become a force for nature? Get it HERE!

If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe, rate, and review it! This helps to boost its visibility.

Hit me up on Instagram and Facebook and let me know what actions you have been taking. Adopting just one habit can be a game-changer because imagine if a billion people also adopted that!

What difference for the world are you going to make today?

Send Crystal a text letting her know what you thought about the show!

Conserving land doesn't have to be all or nothing. We don't have to choose between setting aside whole tracks of forests to protect them or cutting them all down for economic development. Laurie Wayburn, the co-founder and president of Pacific Forest Trust, has found a middle ground. Since 1993, Pacific Forest Trust has transformed over 350,000 acres of privately owned forests in California and Oregon into carbon-sequestering and climate-fighting assets. Through the use of conservation easements, she works with landowners to find the best ways for them to keep the ecosystem intact, yet, still gain economic benefit from what they own. With nearly 60% of U.S. forests under private ownership, this "middle ground" could be key in protecting our natural treasures.

Highlights

• How hass her international experience with conservation influenced her work today?
• How can conservation and economic development go hand in hand?
• How can we avoid the terrible wildlife seasons we have been seeing?

What YOU Can Do

• Plant native trees, bushes, and plants within your community as part of your parks and natural areas or as borders around play fields, etc. This can be very powerful in supporting the ecosystem.
• Urge whether it's your city council, your county, the commissioners and supervisors, your state legislature, your federal, representatives, etc to support forest conservation as a critical climate change policy, and that means putting some real money behind it and really guiding how that forest conservation is done for the future.
• Provide financial support to Pacific Forest Trust so they can do the work that you want to have done.

Resources

• Conservation Easements 101
• 1757 EAC Recommendations
• Pacific Forest Trust

Want a free guide to help you become a force for nature? Get it HERE!

If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe, rate, and review it! This helps to boost its visibility.

Hit me up on Instagram and Facebook and let me know what actions you have been taking. Adopting just one habit can be a game-changer because imagine if a billion people also adopted that!

What difference for the world are you going to make today?

Send Crystal a text letting her know what you thought about the show!

Bonnie Monteleone is the Founder & Director of Science, Research, and Academic Partnerships of the Plastic Ocean Project (POP) whose mission is finding science-based solutions to the global plastic pollution crisis.

In 2019, she was working on a documentary about the North Atlantic Ocean. However, its plot quickly went from one about a complex, impacted ecosystem into a "who done it," following the death of a newborn critically endangered North Atlantic Right Whale that washed ashore. Was it manmade noise that caused the mother to lose her newborn, a ship strike, chemical or plastic pollution, was it discarded fishing gear, or overfishing?

Bonnie discusses her work with plastics pollution and how it relates to this new documentary project she is undertaking. The threats the ocean and its creatures are facing are vast, but Bonnie dives deep into viable solutions that everyone can support to preserve the sounds of the sea and the marine life in it.

This film, which asks what the oceans would say if they could talk, promises to inspire hope, not doom, but only if we listen.

​​Bonnie's work has led her around the world collecting plastic marine samples including four of the five main ocean gyres and the Caribbean. She also works in the Environmental Studies Department at UNC Wilmington as an Adjunct Instructor teaching a Plastic Marine Debris Field Studies course and manages a lab working with student Directed Independent Studies (DIS) research.

Highlights

• What happened to this baby Right Whale and what does that mean for the species as a whole?
• How can whales help mitigate climate change?
• If the oceans could talk, what would we learn?

What YOU Can Do
Bonnie talks a lot about solutions her organization is implementing as well as what different industries can do. But, here are some ideas on what YOU can do:

• Avoid single-use plastic.
• Support the documentary either monetarily, by spreading the word, or by seeing it when it comes to a festival near you.
• Filmmakers (and wanna-be filmmakers) contribute your ocean footage to the film so they have less of a need to go out and film (and use fossil fuels to do so).
• Spread the word about the danger these whales are in so people are more likely to support ideas and legislation that protect them.

Resources

• Information about the documentary, If the Ocean Could Talk.
• Plastic Ocean Project (POP) Facebook
• POP

You can now text me directly from your podcasting app! Click on the link at the top of the show notes and let me know what you think about this episode or send me a question you may have that I can share with the guest. Be sure to leave an email address if you'd like a response because the feature doesn't include responding just yet. I can't wait to hear from you!

Want a free guide to help you become a force for nature? Get it HERE!

If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe, rate, and review it! This helps to boost its visibility.

Hit me up on Instagram and Facebook and let me know what actions you have been taking. Adopting just one habit can be a game-changer because imagine if a billion people also adopted that!

What difference for the world are you going to make today?

Send Crystal a text letting her know what you thought about the show!

In a time where our planet's health is at the forefront of global discussions, understanding the intricacies of climate change is not just beneficial; it's imperative. Bryce Coon is the Director of Education Initiatives at Earthday.org and a passionate advocate for embedding climate literacy within our educational systems. He plays a central role in crafting the organization's overarching goals and roadmap to increasing climate literacy worldwide. Moreover, Bryce is instrumental in driving the efforts dedicated to the climate and environmental literacy campaign, working year-round to cultivate a nationwide movement aimed at bolstering climate literacy across various educational institutions, ranging from K-12 schools to universities, trade schools, and graduate schools.

EARTHDAY.ORG’s mission is to diversify, educate, and activate the environmental movement worldwide. Growing out of the first Earth Day (1970), EARTHDAY.ORG is the world’s largest recruiter to the environmental movement, working with more than 150,000 partners in nearly 192 countries to build environmental democracy. More than 1 billion people now participate in Earth Day actions each year, making it the largest civic observance in the world. Learn more at earthday.org.

Highlights

• What is the status of climate education across the world?
• How can we equip teachers to teach climate literacy without adding more to their plates?
• How can climate education fit into all subjects and all grades?

What YOU Can Do

• Advocate for climate education wherever you are, from school boards to your State, and up to the Federal level.
• Talk with young people about climate education. Ask what they know about it.

Resources

• Earthday.org's Environmental Resources
• Climate Literate Lesson Guide
• Earth Month Calendar resources

You can now text me directly from your podcasting app! Click on the link at the top of the show notes and let me know what you think about this episode or send me a question you may have that I can share with the guest. Be sure to leave an email address if you'd like a response because the feature doesn't include responding just yet. I can't wait to hear from you!

Want a free guide to help you become a force for nature? Get it HERE!

If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe, rate, and review it! This helps to boost its visibility.

Hit me up on Instagram and Facebook and let me know what actions you have been taking. Adopting just one habit can be a game-changer because imagine if a billion people also adopted that!

What difference for the world are you going to make today?

Send Crystal a text letting her know what you thought about the show!

Our disconnection from nature has never been greater and this is resulting in not only a crisis for our planet but for our own well-being too. Ciara Byrne, the founder of Green Our Planet, has been using school gardens to help bridge this disconnect. Through her organization, these green spaces are more than just a cool project—they're a way to teach kids about taking care of our planet and each other. And it's working! She's helping to plant seeds of change and watching hope, connection, and environmental stewardship bloom right before our eyes.

Highlights

• How did a school garden get a couple of kids to protect sea turtles?
• How did Ciara go from documentary film making to creating school gardens?
• What other benefits do school gardens bring?

What YOU Can Do

• Take a walk outside. Even if it's just around your neighborhood. Observe the trees, the birds, the animals, and even the insects. Give yourself space to connect and enjoy it.
• Plant a garden, even if it's just some pots on your balcony.
• Advocate for getting school gardens and/or hydroponics at your local school.
• Inform others about the benefits of school gardens and share Green Our Planet's mission on social media to raise awareness.

Resources

• Green Our Planet Website: A resource hub for starting a school garden, with guides and success stories.

You can now text me directly from your podcasting app! Click on the link at the top of the show notes and let me know what you think about this episode or send me a question you may have that I can share with the guest. Be sure to leave an email address if you'd like a response because the feature doesn't include responding just yet. I can't wait to hear from you!

Want a free guide to help you become a force for nature? Get it HERE!

If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe, rate, and review it! This helps to boost its visibility.

Hit me up on Instagram and Facebook and let me know what actions you have been taking. Adopting just one habit can be a game-changer because imagine if a billion people also adopted that!

What difference for the world are you going to make today?